Mark is one of the country’s foremost food writers, known for his original take on all things edible. His A Year at Otter Farm, published in 2014, won the Andre Simon Food Book of the Year; A Taste of the Unexpected won the Guild of Food Writers Food Book of the Year 2011; and The New Kitchen Garden was published this spring. Mark has also written three River Cottage Handbooks, and is one of the authors of the forthcoming River Cottage Bible. He has won numerous Garden Media Guild awards for his writing and photography.
His unique smallholding, Otter Farm, is home to orchards of – among many other things – pecans, peaches, almonds, Szechuan pepper, apricots, a vineyard and the most delicious varieties of vegetables and herbs. His idea is not only pioneering, it is also beautifully sustainable – taking advantage of climate change to grow low carbon food helps arrest its acceleration. It also means he’s lucky enough to spend most of his time eating, growing, writing and talking about food. Mark has now established his gardening and cookery school at Otter Farm, as well as running the blog relating all its daily joys.
He writes regular features for the Daily Telegraph, occasionally for the Observer, the Guardian and a host of other publications, and has a monthly column in The Simple Things. Mark’s award-winning Otter Farm blog has run for 10 years, has many thousands of followers.
Mark also led the Garden Team at River Cottage, appearing in the TV series, running courses and events at River Cottage HQ. He is one of the authors of the widely popular River Cottage series, of which the most recent is River Cottage A-Z: Our Favourite Ingredients and How to Cook Them, published in September 2016.
